Colorado Springs Fire Department Chief talks safety following another crash at Station 7
Celeste Springer
Writing by KRDO13 producer Jaunell Vallejo contributed to this report.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A fire station responsible for responding to emergencies has also found itself in the middle of them.
The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) says a truck wiped out a sign, among other things, just outside Station 7 over the weekend. It’s the second time in recent history that a vehicle has crashed near the building, CSFD says.
Station 7 sits at the busy intersection of Academy Boulevard and Palmer Park Boulevard. CSFD says it was built in the late 1960s when traffic in the area was far lighter than it is today.
Firefighters say that as traffic has increased, so have crashes, including one involving vehicles striking buildings near the station.
“It seems like we’ve had a pretty big uptick of that, of people running into houses, running into commercial buildings, running into fire stations,” said Chief Randy Royal. “I just implore our public to be thinking out there when they’re driving.”
Chief Royal says crashes at Station 7 have happened often enough that the department built a protective wall in front of the building.
He says there are plans to remodel Station 7 in the future, with possible plans to relocate the station to a different site.